


The Herald's Song

by comeonlight



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/M, Hallucinations, Haunting, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:05:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4865819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeonlight/pseuds/comeonlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The typical fic about Hope losing his will because of the rose-haired phantom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Herald's Song

**Author's Note:**

> Based on "The Harold Song" by Kesha. Mainly these lyrics:  
> "I see your face in strangers on the street. I still say your name when I'm talking in my sleep. And in the limelight, I play it off fine, but I can't handle it when I turn off my night light. They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me. Young love, murder, that is what this must be. I would give it all to not be sleeping alone."

It started as a ringing in his ears. Then it was a voice, singing to him. No words, just a soothing song; it felt completely normal, and made Hope feel like he was at home in a way. It never stopped, just lingered, like background noise. Hope could only hear it well when no one was around, in the early mornings or late evenings, or sometimes when he was in his office working in near silence. The song went on and on, and he couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something so familiar about it. What, though? It was something simple that he’d call himself an idiot for not realizing once he finally did figure it out.

“Hope.” That was the first time the voice spoke to him, and in that instant he knew. It wasn’t the song that was familiar, but the voice. “Light…” Hope saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye and turned around. “Light?” She was nowhere to be seen. “Lightning, is that you?” “Hope.” The sudden whisper on his nape caused Hope to freeze. He saw pink strands of hair floating over his shoulders. “What is it?” he managed.

Then her laugh rang in his ears. Another flash of pink out of the corner of his eye, and she was gone. Hope turned and looked in every direction, but there was no one. He was alone in his dark office. “I need to sleep.” But sleep eluded him for several nights. The thought of Lightning became more and more frequent in his mind, until it was omnipresent. Everything he did, heard, saw, brought back memories from the distant past.

Aside from elevated stress levels, Hope seemed perfectly healthy. There had to be a reason behind these hallucinations, though. Perhaps Lightning was trying to contact him. “What are you trying to tell me?” He pondered the possibilities whenever he could, and he continued to hear that song. “Is there a message you’re trying to get to me?” He wanted to find the truth, badly. But his body and mind couldn’t seem to take any more.

Collapsing into bed, Hope could feel his body less and less. He must have been even more exhausted than he’d thought. Perhaps sleep would actually come to him this time. His eyelids fell shut, and the song lulled him to sleep. Sleep, however, wasn’t the same as rest in this case.

Hope saw many things in his dreams: visions of Lightning in Valhalla, the endless battle, Cocoon’s fall, many explosions, wastelands littered with bodies, red skies and black seas, things he’d never seen before, terrible things. “Hope. Wake up.” Hope’s eyes opened instantly, and a pair of pale blue eyes were staring back at him. He felt a warm softness enveloping one of his hands. It was a warmth he’d missed for so very long. “Light, you – ” After blinking just once, everything was gone. The warmth, the joy of seeing her, what he thought was a look of concern on her face – every last bit was gone, save for echoes of that song. “…What are you trying to tell me?”

Putting up a façade of being just fine was difficult, but Hope had to do it. He was, after all, the hope of the people. But he couldn’t ignore these hallucinations, this...phantom. This phantom with rose- “Of course.” It had been obvious from the beginning. Only weeks ago had Hope investigated the disappearance of the scientists working to fight the Chaos. “The woman with the rose-colored hair takes us with her.” That was the message they’d left. If this was the same phantom haunting him, then it probably wasn’t Lightning. No, it couldn’t be.

“Hope.” Lightning’s voice. But, it wasn’t Lightning’s voice. “Hope, follow me.” Ghost arms embraced Hope from behind, tugging him. “What are you?” There was no answer. “It’s a trap.” Hope went to his library and read. It didn’t matter what book; he picked one off the shelf without looking and opened it. He just needed to distract himself. But every word he read was _light, chaos, lonesome, war, heart, flash._ So he took a walk. But every other face on the street reminded him of Lightning. Blue eyes here, pink hair there, a cape, gloves, feathers – anything and everything reminded him of her, and there was nothing he could do.

Returning to bed at the end of the day, Hope heard the song again. He stared at the empty space next to him and allowed tears to fall from his eyes. “What do you want from me?” What felt like a hand tugged on Hope’s arm, coaxing him to sit up. “I want you to follow me.” The fake Lightning’s voice. “I have a message. You need to go come with me.” Hope knew it was a trap. He knew he shouldn’t. But his mind, heart, and body were too weak to resist anymore. “…Okay.”

 

 

_What a fool._

**Author's Note:**

> Whoever is saying/thinking "What a fool" at the end there is somewhat open to interpretation: might be the phantom, Hope, Bhunivelze...Lumina? *shrugs*


End file.
